"Leatherheads" is a movie of laughs, and feel good fun a period piece of football nostalgia that's held together by it's slapstick comedy and blended well with romance. George Clooney who stars and directs gives a good turn here, yet it seems a little uncommon seeing the superstar in a period comedy piece as he's clearly a better dramatic actor still he scores some points here for his style of shooting and direction of the film.

Set in the 1920's George is 'Dodge' Connelly a football player on the field and a ladies man off it, and this is before the big money and rules changes that took into form for the game. Clooney's team the Duluth Bulldogs are a scrapper bunch at play yet the team is tough and gritty, and off the field George's Dodge character is full of drink and has eyes for a dame. Enter Lexie Littleton(Renee Zellweger)who's an elegant and sexy snap news lady of a reporter as she's a little lady in red from her nifty wardrobe. While the Bulldogs team and other foes have gone bankrupt and many move on to other traits of work like mining and labor, a plan then develops to invest in and start an organized league with the help of a famous recruit for the Bulldogs that being college ivy league stud and apparent war hero Carter Rutherford(John Krasinski). Along the way then the film blends with plenty of slapstick laughs and comic gridiron action from strange and crazy tackles to muddy fields to catchy flirtation one liners and romance that is seen in a chastely and sexy way. And the big surprise is the truth about the apparent battlefield story is revealed.

Overall this isn't a great movie, but it's OK as the slapstick and laughs carry it, so if your expecting a historical serious and dramatic look at the early NFL you want get it here. Though the costumes and uniforms of the classic throwback way of no face mask, no chin gear, nor any rules make you feel just like your back watching a 1920's era game. The chemistry between Clooney and Zellweger is good as Renee is a bright treat to watch even though the laughs are good and the scenes are fun Clooney appears out of place here in a comedy work even though his performance is good, this screwball comedy scores for laughs and is flagged for drama and it's lack of focused attention on the history of the start of the NFL.

If you are in the mood for a film which is simply fun and mindless, "Leatherheads" is a good choice. It's a fictional story of the early days of professional football, a sport pretty much seen as, at best, third rate in the 1920s. It's also a decent choice as a date film, as in addition to sports, it has a bit of comedy and a bit of romance.

The story is about the Duluth Bulldogs, a team which played in front of mostly empty fields. However, when the team leader, Dodge Connelly (George Clooney),comes up with a plan to boost attendance, it's a huge hit. The team is able to convince a war hero, Carter Rutherford (John Krasinski),to leave college football to play for the Bulldogs. Instantly, the team is hot and they start winning. But there are two problems heading their way....a nosy reporter (Renée Zellweger) who is out to expose Carter to be a fraud AND Carter's decision to leave Duluth to play for Chicago. What's next? See the film.

The story is a bit underdeveloped...especially the 'big game' at the end of the film (WHY was it so important???)....but the film had a light mood and a few laughs that really made viewing fun even if it didn't always make a ton of sense. Plus, I do appreciate the hellish working conditions the actors played in at the end of the movie...the actors were very game.

By the way, if you see the movie you might think having a black player on the team was an anachronism, but there were 9 black players in the league during the 1920s. Sadly, soon the league became white-only...but the color barrier was actually broken long before Jackie Robinson.

It's 1925. College football is wildly popular but pro football garner no interest at all. Dodge Connelly (George Clooney) is trying to keep his team and the league going. Carter 'the Bullet' Rutherford (John Krasinski) is a college star. When the team goes broke losing their sponsor, Dodge tries to revive it by attracting Carter to the pros. Lexie Littleton (Renée Zellweger) is a serious reporter who is told to write up the war hero Bullet and then double cross him with a expose with fellow soldier Mack Steiner's true story of the incident.

Clooney is trying to bring the old fashion screwball comedy back. The movie works best with the fast talking chemistry between Clooney and Zellweger. There is good heat and Zellweger is great at feigning anger. The movie is good for most of it. However the deception doesn't work well for the story. It would be so much better if Bullet comes clean on his own. The movie is a bit long and the last half needs to be cut back. He just needs to make this movie about the romance and keep Krasinski as a side character.